Advice

[MurtleLeopardTortoise]

There is NO doubt that the pet shop has no clue or cares a whit. All they want is your money...seriously. Please understand it's not you who are wrong, it s the people who told you..that baby needs humidity and that means a closed top...I don't keep Leo's but here is the same idea for my Redfoot...View attachment 367006
LaylaView attachment 367007

Ohhh okay seeing this photo makes a lot more sense now😅 thank you!!

 

[myk]

I own a baby leopard tortoise and I have a few questions. I want her to be healthy and happy. I’ve had her since 23rd Feb 2024. She currently only has 2 hides however I’m looking to add some more bendy wood in to make little walls around to encourage her to explore and forage as I’ve read that it’s good for baby tortoises. I have attached a few photos below of her table and substrates that I currently own and use. Her current tank is 90 x 50cm. She’s a very active little tortoise and loves to climb things, I’ve also noticed that no matter how much food is in her bowl she will eat when she pleases and eats how ever much she wants, I always watch her when she’s eating so I can keep track on how much she is eating and drinking. She eats grated carrots, spinach, diced cucumber and her pellets. I also only give her volvic water and I always make sure that it is never to cold as she likes to lay in her water bowl for around 10mins a day.

My questions:

•how can I make her home better? (I’m open to anything any price as I want to make sure she has the best of the best)

•I know baby leopards like humid environments so I often mist the forest substrate and the moss area however I’m wondering just how often I mist.

•I get her out daily and let her lay with me in which she usually sleeps on my chest for around 30 mins as I don’t want her getting to cold, how long is she able to free roam?

•I turn her light off for around 8pm and then I turn it on around 8/9am, I’m wondering if there’s a specific time I should be turning this on and off (just want to double check what’s the best times for her)

•how can I make her sleeping area better for her as I feel like it’s very plain.

•can anyone recommend some sites to purchase good quality tortoise things (hides, bridges, snakes, plants/artificial plants)

•how often should I bath/soak her as she often soaks herself in her water bowl😂

•any extra things I should know please let me know.

Photos are linked below:

Thank you for reading this ridiculously long message😂 everytime I search google I get different answers every time but either way I think it’s best to ask real people that have experience with tortoises.

Yeah that's a long list there, first I'm going to say is her diet,no spinach...carrots are sugars,no good for leopards, fruits not good for them only in sparingly, dark greens is best,baby's should be soaked daily,what I did was Google anything I questioned, and compare to this group. I mainly feed my 5 year old and 12year old ,cucumbers. Zucchini, red leaf and romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, fresh grass,collard greens, nothing in cabbage family, no broccoli, cauliflower or kale, I do give some berries once a week, couple strawberries or blueberries, periodically some carrots, squash, dandelion flowers, rose's, maple leaves, mulberry leaves only not the berries, like I said if u have a question regarding her diet Google it, or I'm surprised you haven't gotten feedback yet,for great idea's and how to, check out, Garden State Tortoises on you tube, you want a hot basking side, 90_95degrees, other end about 80 ,,babies need moisture, humidity around 70 , uvb lights, heat lamps, ceramic non light emitting, basking light for their hot end, I use a 100 watt floodlight bulb,,you need digital thermometer ssss, ones that read temp and humidity, in all the areas of enclosure I use 2 just move them around to make sure everything good, you want to feed her off slate if possible, this helps keep their beaks trimmed, calcium powder back to the diet, sprinkle on her food 2 to 3 times a week, this is for her bone strength which her shell is a bone, I'm going to stop here, others will chime in. Oh a hide for her to hide in. On the cooler end, I use cococoir for substrate, as far as enclosure goes,,babies don't need much room and when young it's best to keep small to keep the heat and humidity where you need it, I have my 5 year old male in a 4x8x2 enclosure and my 11 year old in a 3x7 x2 enclosure only partially covered because they don't need the humidity as much as babies,, eating breakfast and his enclosure ,Goodluck n keep asking questions you be good, @Tom,@Yvonne @wellington

 

[myk]

Yeah that's a long list there, first I'm going to say is her diet,no spinach...carrots are sugars,no good for leopards, fruits not good for them only in sparingly, dark greens is best,baby's should be soaked daily,what I did was Google anything I questioned, and compare to this group. I mainly feed my 5 year old and 12year old ,cucumbers. Zucchini, red leaf and romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, fresh grass,collard greens, nothing in cabbage family, no broccoli, cauliflower or kale, I do give some berries once a week, couple strawberries or blueberries, periodically some carrots, squash, dandelion flowers, rose's, maple leaves, mulberry leaves only not the berries, like I said if u have a question regarding her diet Google it, or I'm surprised you haven't gotten feedback yet,for great idea's and how to, check out, Garden State Tortoises on you tube, you want a hot basking side, 90_95degrees, other end about 80 ,,babies need moisture, humidity around 70 , uvb lights, heat lamps, ceramic non light emitting, basking light for their hot end, I use a 100 watt floodlight bulb,,you need digital thermometer ssss, ones that read temp and humidity, in all the areas of enclosure I use 2 just move them around to make sure everything good, you want to feed her off slate if possible, this helps keep their beaks trimmed, calcium powder back to the diet, sprinkle on her food 2 to 3 times a week, this is for her bone strength which her shell is a bone, I'm going to stop here, others will chime in. Oh a hide for her to hide in. On the cooler end, I use cococoir for substrate, as far as enclosure goes,,babies don't need much room and when young it's best to keep small to keep the heat and humidity where you need it, I have my 5 year old male in a 4x8x2 enclosure and my 11 year old in a 3x7 x2 enclosure only partially covered because they don't need the humidity as much as babies,, eating breakfast and his enclosure ,Goodluck n keep asking questions you be good, @Tom,@Yvonne @wellington

I don't know why I didn't see any replies before I replied, lol

 

[Ink]

No fruit.

 

[wellington]

Yeah that's a long list there, first I'm going to say is her diet,no spinach...carrots are sugars,no good for leopards, fruits not good for them only in sparingly, dark greens is best,baby's should be soaked daily,what I did was Google anything I questioned, and compare to this group. I mainly feed my 5 year old and 12year old ,cucumbers. Zucchini, red leaf and romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, fresh grass,collard greens, nothing in cabbage family, no broccoli, cauliflower or kale, I do give some berries once a week, couple strawberries or blueberries, periodically some carrots, squash, dandelion flowers, rose's, maple leaves, mulberry leaves only not the berries, like I said if u have a question regarding her diet Google it, or I'm surprised you haven't gotten feedback yet,for great idea's and how to, check out, Garden State Tortoises on you tube, you want a hot basking side, 90_95degrees, other end about 80 ,,babies need moisture, humidity around 70 , uvb lights, heat lamps, ceramic non light emitting, basking light for their hot end, I use a 100 watt floodlight bulb,,you need digital thermometer ssss, ones that read temp and humidity, in all the areas of enclosure I use 2 just move them around to make sure everything good, you want to feed her off slate if possible, this helps keep their beaks trimmed, calcium powder back to the diet, sprinkle on her food 2 to 3 times a week, this is for her bone strength which her shell is a bone, I'm going to stop here, others will chime in. Oh a hide for her to hide in. On the cooler end, I use cococoir for substrate, as far as enclosure goes,,babies don't need much room and when young it's best to keep small to keep the heat and humidity where you need it, I have my 5 year old male in a 4x8x2 enclosure and my 11 year old in a 3x7 x2 enclosure only partially covered because they don't need the humidity as much as babies,, eating breakfast and his enclosure ,Goodluck n keep asking questions you be good, @Tom,@Yvonne @wellington

Actually babies specially should not have any fruit even sparingly. Adults shouldn't either, but many do and sparingly is not once a week, more like once a month.
Googling is not a good recommendation. It will give people all the wrong info.

 

[ryan57]

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50901500/presentations/sugar_calibration.pdf

Managing grass for lower sugar — Safergrass

Methods to limit choose lower grass species, limit grass intake, manage pasture for lower sugar concentration, soak hay, rotational grazing, strip grazing.

www.safergrass.org

Grass contains sugars too, especially when shorter, so that nonsense spewed here about many species of grass eating tortoises not being able to process sugar is false. Please adjust and align your understanding with the science. Of course we don't use grass, wheat, barley, etc. to make mash for alcohol distillation so ignore that too.

To minimize the sugar in grass/hay it is to be soaked for 10-15 minutes and then drained. They do this for horses that are less tolerant to sugar.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50901500/presentations/sugar_calibration.pdf

Managing grass for lower sugar — Safergrass

Methods to limit choose lower grass species, limit grass intake, manage pasture for lower sugar concentration, soak hay, rotational grazing, strip grazing.

www.safergrass.org

Grass contains sugars too, especially when shorter, so that nonsense spewed here about many species of grass eating tortoises not being able to process sugar is false. Please adjust and align your understanding with the science. Of course we don't use grass, wheat, barley, etc. to make mash for alcohol distillation so ignore that too.

To minimize the sugar in grass/hay it is to be soaked for 10-15 minutes and then drained. They do this for horses that are less tolerant to sugar.

"No fruit" is an simple advice for the new keepers, Ryan and the explanation about "incapable of processing sugars" is easy to get. Perhaps, this has saved lives of many tortoises.

You are right about sugar contents of grasses. But then you'll have to dive deep into simple and complex carbohydrates, foregut and hindgut fermentation and get some comparison of amounts of sugars between various foods. I would be glad to see a discussion on that topic in a separate thread. This one, for example, was a great reading: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/in-depth-questions-regarding-tortoise-digestion-and-fruit.210493/